Final Fantasy XIII is Not an RPG

And we find out why its creators are perfectly fine with that. Plus exclusive screens!

Fighting Fantasy

FFXIII's reductive design philosophy means that the entire package consists almost entirely of two elements: Combat and story.

Like so many other things about the game, the battle system is a new take on RPG combat that nevertheless calls back to previous Final Fantasy titles. As in FFXII, players take direct control of a single character; the other party members operate via artificial intelligence. As in FFX-2, much of the strategy of combat revolves around changing party members' roles in the middle of battle. As in FFX, summoned beasts -- Eidolons -- replace the AI-controlled party members when called, battling alongside the lead character.

Click the image above to check out all Final Fantasy XIII screens.

Yet there's much about FFXIII's combat mechanics that's completely new to the series. There are no magic points, though the spell-charge system of the original Final Fantasy isn't used, either. Instead, all actions -- melee attacks, spells, and special skills alike -- cost a certain amount of each character's Active Time Battle meter, which is divided into segments and recharges rapidly over the course of the fight. Different skills have differing costs, and it's possible to execute an attack before the ATB meter is completely full.

Specialized skills, including summoning Eidolons and high-damage spells like Quake, deduct their cost from a special five-point bar called the Technical Points meter. TP are recharged only after battle, and the amount recuperated after each fight is based on the party's battle rank, which in turn is a function of how efficiently the team performs. Dispatch a group of foes without stopping to heal -- which is less hazardous than in previous Final Fantasy games, as your HP regenerates completely between battles -- and you'll probably rank highly, earning lots of TP. Chip away at a foe without exploiting its weaknesses while turtling up with defensive or healing roles and you'll rank poorly, forcing you to wait longer until your next opportunity to execute TP-based actions.

It's a streamlined battle system to be sure, placing players in more of a tactical role. Speed is the essence of this battle system, from the almost overwhelming rapidity of everyone's overlapping combat actions to the game's emphasis on efficiency-based post-battle rankings.

"The base concept when we first started building the battle system was that it had to be tactical and speedy," says battle director Yuji Abe. "So, we advanced from there, and one of the main challenges the team faced in creating the battle system was the lack of magic point in the battle system. This makes it really easy for healer characters to just cast cure magic on party members and never have to worry about losing. So balancing that to keep it fair and yet challenging was the key to the final form of the battle system as it exists now.

Click the image above to check out all Final Fantasy XIII screens.

"Players should always keep in mind that the Paradigm system is the key to success in FFXIII," he says, referring to the class-change ability that becomes available in the game's third chapter. Paradigms are preset combinations of character classes; each of the three party members can serve in one six different roles (attacker, offensive mage, healer, defender, ally buffer, and enemy debuffer), and it's possible to enter battle with six different class combinations at the ready. Changing your party configuration is as simple as pressing the L1 button and selecting a different Paradigm. In any battle, players are limited to six combinations they've predefined through the main menu, though it's possible to cancel out of a battle at any time to adjust the presets to choices that better suit the current situation.

"Moreso than inputting specific commands and micromanaging on that level, it's important to look at the overall flow of the battle," says Abe. "Look at the enemy, look at their properties, and customize actions based on that. There are parts where the player could easily get stuck against certain enemies, and simply tweaking the Paradigm just a little bit can make the battle a lot easier. It's a simple difference, but studying tactics and enemies is essential.

"There's so much going on, and in a realistic-looking situation, that we had to ask how much micromanagement is really possible on the player's part. After the team played through the game, we felt we were better off having AI take care of actions on the other party members' end, leaving the player to focus just on the actions of the lead character."

Comments (369)

Watered down but it is still an RPG

FFXIII obviously this interview was taken before the American Release so obviously the developers had to promote the game, in the right way. But I have to say that FFXIII still is an RPG, but has been watered down to the point, that there are only about two good things you can say about...It has amazing graphics and A good battle system that eventually out stays its welcome by forcing you into many fights and no reaping enough rewards from it unless you dedicate and insane amount of it time to it, but the game is so linear and the story so dare I say boring? that its hard to stick with it for very long after beating it once.

You Know....

I find myself wanting my games to have more depth. It seems like when I get a game Im done with it usually with it or in like a day or two. When I buy a game I want it to take me a 2 weeks to beat cuz then I feel like I got my money's worth. Im not the biggest FF fan I've only played the popular ones really (1,7,10,12) but on the whole they at least give you a lot of game to play gotta be honest this game doesn't interest me at all in the story department but if it can provide som innovative gaming I may give it a shot

Dear Square-Enix,

I like your games a lot. You talk about breaking out of JRPG tropes, but you can't seem to lose turn-based combat. Even in XII, where you could move at will during combat, I'm still stuck waiting for a bar to fill before I can take an action, and enemy attacks home-in better than predator missiles.

I'm skipping this one, because to me, at least now after a good 20 years of gaming, a game that is fundamentally based on math and cycling through menus is boring.

Good philosophy

I appreciate that square, unlike many developers, is unwilling to make the same game twice(although they're not above trying to sell the same game multiple times). Its a somewhat risky approach, as most people can name an FF title that felt horrible to them. Between its easily broken combat system and worthless story, FFXII was the most disappointing for me. But since they continue to move on, I continue to have faith in the series.

i'm not much of an RPG fan...

Change is Good...

It sounds like Square Enix is doing things differently for FF13 and I'm glad they are and I think that people who are a little skeptical should give it a chance. I know some people who never touched FF12 because of the change in the battle system and I can't understand why.

i like variety

the fact that FFXIII has some linear element makes it any less of a great game. it upsets me when people ignore a game they have yet to play. i have played many (not all) of the FF titles and enjoyed every last one of them. the most varied ones were Crystal Chronicles, XI and XII. those titles took a different plan to the old FF formula and were great. i just hope people will give XIII a chance. i understand what Square is doing. they just want to alter the way we play for an qually enjoyable experience. if XIII was like the older FFs then people would complain it was more of the same. you cannot please everyone. anyways, despite what others say, i'm buying FFXIII (have it reserved) day one. March 9th is right around the corner!

Change for the better tomorrow

Games are evolving as ever, and the changes are becoming more dramatic recently. ME2 also changed much, as well as FFXIII.

I think these changes are for the better, as gaming audiences are shifting away from hardcore gamers to more casual people. Losing many aspects that made yesterday's gaming experience (which hardcore gamers love) and adding features that makes for the interesting and meaningful time, I believe games will keep expanding its user base over time.

And to all those who cry out loud for these changes, I do understand where you're coming from, however, don't make it sound like you're losing anything. SquareEnix is providing you with more traditional, time-killing RPG, i.e. FFXIV. Or how about Dragon Quest?

good to know

that Square Enix is ignoring rpg fans and doing whatever they can to woo ADD riddled FPS fans. Hopefully they will add the painfully bad controls FPS have on consoles so I'm not even tempted to buy this garbage when it hits the bargain bin.

Cannot Wait

I am looking forward to this game as well. I am not too concerned that they have created something new and entirely different. The screens look beautiful. I will be throwing my money down on release day.

SilverIceDragon

I know I may get flamed for this, but I'm kinda loosing my hype for FFXIII. I want to know more about Versus XIII. I want more of that. A new trailer, screenshots, something!!! I just hope Nomura changes his mind about showing some more footage at E3 and TGS this year. They keep bailing out of those events like they did last year, but instead promoted more on XIII. GIVE ME SOME VERSUS XIII, DAMNIT!!!! :(

Pffft. "New genre"...

It's a freakin RPG. Get over it, developers. My god, it's as if they aren't paying attention to other games that are out. They're just off in their own little world, where they are the center of all that is an RPG. And we wonder why JRPGs have become so stale. They completely ignore any innovation that doesn't come from them. "New Genre"? Give me a break. FFXIII is an RPG. It's not even that far removed from the original.While everyone else is busy pushing the envelope in every direction, expanding the definition of RPG, these idiots take a half-step out of their world, and they think they are creating a "new genre".

Can we say, hubris?

I have no doubt the game will be fun and interesting, but these guys need to be bitchslapped by reality at some point. They are completely clueless.

I am pumped for this game....

It looks awesome and I cant wait! I have only played Final Fantasy X when I was younger but the story line of that game was unbelivable, I still have the opening cut scene from it forever engraved into my memory. Now that it is coming out for Xbox 360 I can play it again.

It gets more interesting all the time...

I've played Final Fantasies VII, VIII, and X, and while I enjoyed them all quite a bit I found myself being horribly frustrated by them at times. I still prefer the western style of RPG, with Bioware and Bethesda having made some of my favorite games ever. As such, I was always been vastly frustrated at the random battles, dice rolls, over reliance on numbers, and all round luck that came with using the battle systems, as well as the immaturity and sloppiness of many of their plot lines. However, the more I see of FFXIII the more I feel they are creating just the Final Fantasy I want. I'm sure traditional fans are sure to be upset by the changes to the game but the new battle system has sold me. I just hope they have a great story this time.

Sadly a low-point for the series

Things started getting bad with FFXII. Beautiful presentation, loved the lore, but the basic fighting mechanic was terrible. I'm of the old-school turn-based RPG camp, and in FFXII you were fighting the UI more than the enemies. The AI/gambit system was cumbersome (compare that to Persona's 3 AI characters). FFXII was the first Final Fantasy I didn't finish.

Kitase seems to have made FFXIII worse, removing almost all vestiges of the RPG genre. There seems to be a mandate in the Japanese game dev community that they stagnated too long. Their solution was to mimic Western style. But the games are losing their unique Japan-ness.

There's plenty of room for innovation in the RPG genre without throwing the concept away. (Again, look at Persona 3) That Kitase thinks he can make FF into some other genre shows that they are really out of ideas. Maybe they need to hire someone outside of Square to get it back on track before the rep is further tarnished.

User Hype

In all seriousness, I have high hopes for this game so, I will go at it with an open mind. It just sounds kind of crazy, though.

And did I read that right?

"In any battle, players are limited to six combinations they've predefined through the main menu, though it's possible to cancel out of a battle at any time to adjust the presets to choices that better suit the current situation"

Does that mean you can just leave any battle whenever you want? This must not be written right.

High Art...

First of all, FF 13 is going to be an epic grand masterpiece of art & design. It will be 100% worth it for that reason alone. Second, I much prefer linear gaming over open-world. I simply don't have the time & I like concise, cinematic, story-driven experiences. With that said, I DO REALLY WISH THERE WERE TOWNS THOUGH (my favorite part of RPGs). It's funny though, because people have complained about RPGs not evolving & then when they do, people want them to be back the way they used to be....let's just except that each is what it is. I myself simply can't wait for the 1st of my three most anticipated titles of all time: FF 13, FF VERSUS 13, & The Last Guardian...each will be masterworks of high art fantasy.

Uhh

So we're supposed to get acclimated to the battles system for 20+ hours before we get any sort of freedom on how we want to deal with battles/sidequests? Didn't know Final Fantasy fans needed that much hand holding, oh wait, SE's trying to appeal to FPS crowd. My bad.

Ok, fine...

I hate it, but Yoshinori Kitase is right. I love RPGs, but good game design comes before conforming to a label or template. Square knows how to make great games. RPG or not, I'm betting this will be really good. As long as it holds me over until Versus, I'll be satisfied.

The gameplay looks so fun

"As in FFXII, players take direct control of a single character; the other party members operate via artificial intelligence. As in FFX-2, much of the strategy of combat revolves around changing party members' roles in the middle of battle. As in FFX, summoned beasts -- Eidolons -- replace the AI-controlled party members when called, battling alongside the lead character. "

The fast paced battles of X-2 is one of my fav battle systems. There's no way they could have done multiple character control for FFXIII. It's just much more complex. I really liked the FFX summons, giving more direct control over your summons makes them more useful and involved. The combat at least looks to not dissapoint.

One to avoid, I guess

"As in FFXII, players take direct control of a single character; the other party members operate via artificial intelligence. As in FFX-2, much of the strategy of combat revolves around changing party members' roles in the middle of battle. As in FFX, summoned beasts -- Eidolons -- replace the AI-controlled party members when called, battling alongside the lead character. "

Wow. This was everything I hated about those games. I guess I'll be skipping this one. I hated FFX-2 and was underwhelmed by FFXII. I don't mind the FFX summoning thing, but I'd prefer just to have regular summons back.

Reduction's All The Rage

What's most interesting to me is how there are now two big name RPG sequels - Mass Effect 2 and FFXIII - that are being designed to remove a lot of the mechanics the genre has been carrying around for the last several years. I really liked ME2, but I figured that its streamlining was just "a Western thing" and that JRPGs would keep all of their micromanagement and sub-systems and cooking games and what not. I'm really curious to see if FFXIII starts a new trend for JRPGs and how the genre's traditional fans will react to it.

Who needs towns?

Honestly I've never spent time admiring towns in any FF game and I've played them all excluding XI and X-2 (As XI should be "Final Fantasy Online" and X-2 just shouldn't be) I won't miss towns; that'll leave more time for aciton, leveling and in game movies. We all love that right? This game is going to be stellar.

I love the comparison of VI to XIII

FFVI has always been my favorite Final Fantasy. So if thats any indication to XIII, i'm sold.

Voice acting - Aaron already said it best.

The game itself, square's always made changes, subtle or not. FFX for example had no levels to speak of. You just got points and put your markers on a sphere grid, and that worked well because it gave you flexibility to give you what you needed. I'm prepared to customize if that's what XIII requires.

And who says it HAS to be a RPG to be a great game. Any kind of hate towards this game because they've stripped some elements aways, are to be laughed at because you'll be missing a great game.

Taking the wait and see approach

...but I can say that this is the first time I've not been excited about a Final Fantasy game. Well there was FFXI that I could have cared less about, but I don't count it in the main set of FF Games. I loved FFX but hated that there was no world map. FFXII was good too but the combat got a little far away from what I like. Dammit I miss traditional Final Fantasy! I expect something different everytime, but its getting a little crazy now. Trying not to pass judgement too early though. It could end up being great. I'm just not excited for it at all.

It's Lip Synched in English as well

That's a first for video games in that they went over and reanimated each lip synch to fit English dialouge. So there will be no awkward dialouge spoken.

And lol @ the hate on this game. Square has always changed up each game to keep it fresh and creative for not only the gamers, but themselves as developers. Just because one entry decides to take a more cinematic approach with it's story doesn't spell doom for the series.

It's an rpg still. You still level up and spend points for abilities like FFX, there's weapons to upgrade, many diverse environments to take in and bosses to take down. Seriously, it's like when ME2 was released, you'd have people saying that wasn't an rpg either.

Jap over eng becouse:

I think first of all, they do a better job in a game like this becouse it is so extremly japanese like. Something seem to just sound wrong when Eng audio tries to translate japanese games like FF :-/ It sounds wrong and awkward. Like "Are they REALLY supposed to say that, or is that what it was translated to?"

Coming to terms with XIII

I've had this inner turmoil trying to separate my excitement and anticipation from my dread and fear. THe battle system looks amazing and I can't wait to play, and the graphics and cinematics are also breathtaking, but everything else has me ver nervous and unsettled. I thank Jeremy for an article like this to once and for all confirm much of my feelings on these issues. I love RPG's and I love Final Fantasy, but this is not an RPG, and although it's a Final Fantasy, being a main series FF game while simultaneously not being an RPG, means that the progression of FF is anything but what I want from the series. I love FF games because they give us these massive multi continental worlds to explore, with people and places to visit and just explore.

The Reason why no English option:

Audio files and cgi files take up Waaay too much space even in the bluray release. To add in an extra voice option would be too costly.And there's alot of cgi and talking in FFXIII.

Concerning negativity:

This is the most cinematic FF to date. Despite the linerity there is still a game to enjoy here. So what if you can't find a Hi-Potion in someone's bathroom or you can't play cards or spend hours upon hours changing the color of a chocobo. The combat is still fun, the visuals and music are enjoyable and there's plenty of nostalgia, there may even be a cheesy plot to follow along.

It's still, at it's core, a FF game and an enjoyable rpg. Happy gaming.

Ah, the voice track debate..

I love how everyone always seems to hate the Engligh dubs when they really have no idea if the Japanese actors are also doing a terrible job. You're just to enthralled in the different sounding language to notice it. I grew up in Japan on an airbase, if the soaps on TV are any indication, the actors are terrible.

I don't care!

What people say, This game is going to be great. Yeah, it might not be the traditional rpg everyone was hoping for, but I think everyone who is a FF fan should keep an open mind about this game. If you don't, then go ahead and play FFVII and be stuck in 1997 while the rest of us evolve and enjoy (what looks to be) a great game.

Ugh

Squeenix makes great games as far as playability. FF has always had great battle systems, stories, cut-scenes, et cetera. But I play the series despite the fact that culturally they are catering to the J-pop crowd, not because of it.

@Sqeenix - You might improve your bottom line without much cost by simply swapping out culturally undesirable elements, like the audio track on this trailer, for American audiences. Then you might grow your market share without alienating your core fans.

@Lawrence - It called humor, you douche. Also, you're obviously a FF fan boy too cuz, YOU'RE POSTING ON A FF ARTICLE. Also, I have a BFA in game design and dev from a reputable school, so you don't know anything I don't. Also, using terms like "final faggotry" makes you a bigot. It might be ok in TN, but educated people elsewhere do not condone that attitude. Also, SUCK IT.

I love FF!

But I hate crappy R&B! Most Americans agree! Media's success is based people's reception! That makes me right! Why not have Japanese/American versions! I hope Versus is better! But they'll emasculate that too! My hopes are in abysmal vain! We didn't want to play dress up for X-2 or see Van's nipples either! But we did! So the American male is SOL! I'll have to go watch football! I hate football! Shoot me now! Never mind! My head is already [GIBLETS]!

Linearity is not a flaw

it's a design choice. A game can be linear and still be an awesome game. FFX was the definition of linearity and it's a very good game, one of my favorites actually. The only think that could hurt the game imo is a crappy story and, for the time being, I haven't seen anything that makes me think that (sure it's very melodramatic but it's a JRPG afterall ^^)

No ally control?

It's a bit strange to me that Square would strip something from the series (At least for this addition) that has been an integral part in almost every Final Fantasy game. To me the equivalent would be if the Resident Evil series stripped almost all horror elements from itself. Oh wait, that already happened in RE5. (COME BACK MIKAMI! I BEG YOU!) Anyway, I"m glad you can still control the classes of your allies at least. I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to RPG's so that change upsets me a bit. On the other hand, Final Fantasy has always been about story, even if half the damn games are about crystals.(Crystal fetish?) If the story is half as good as it's been hyped to be, then my incredibily long wait for this game will be justified.

Another Fantasy Disappointment...

Weston, I really can't blame what you wrote, and if this is like grandia 3, then later in the game it should be Xtremely hard. And speaking of Grandia, what happen to that series? I actually liked that series the same as Final Fantasy series. But like my title, i'm disappointed in ffxiii, But i've been this way since final fantasy 9. Final fantasy X was the last one I truly enjoyed and it looks like till Final Fantasy versus 13, it'll stay that way.

I like...

I like the sound of the battles. The battle system from FFX-2 was the only thing thy get right in that game, so if it's like that maybe they won't actually screw this one up. Certainly a step on the right direction after the mess that XII was, not like there was room step further in the wrong direction. I don't know how I feel about being graded on the battles because it sounds like it's boxing you in to playing a certain way, but I'll wait until a play it to judge that. After XII the final fantasy is no longer a day 1 buy for me, but I'm sure I'll get eventually once the price goes down a little.

i dunno

im always excited about the next final fantasy. but this article kind of took the wind out of my sails. i dont like the idea of not being able to control my party ala persona 3 (which i do love that game but...) and i actually dont like the idea of being fully healed after a battle. it takes some of the strategy and tension out of a difficult area. i really enjoyed ff12s battle system being real time as well as the gambit system and being able to directly control who you want when you want. this just kind of sounds like a step backwards. i will still be getting this for sure. hopefully it works for the best.

Is It Just Me

Or do the last two picture's environments look like they're from the ps2 era? Look at those ground textures, yuck!.. But alas, I don't play rpg's solely because of the graphics and I'll definitly be picking this up.

@Peter

Re: combo system, the more you hit the same enemy, the more the meter fills and the more damage each hit does (the percentage in the screenshots is the damage per hit). When it's full (which is when the enemy enters the 'break' state), the percentage jumps hugely and the meter starts to drain, so that's your chance to really whale on it.

And 1-hit, or at least, cheap deaths happen way too often, thanks to the game-over-if-the-leader-dies BS. True, you can always restart at the point right before that battle, but it's still annoying as hell when it happens.

Combat

I'm still not quite sure I understand how to combo system works, but it does sound interesting. The AI, however, sounds a bit like Persona 3 which isn't necessarily a good thing. Maybe it works better here, but I'd say there's a reason why they gave you increased control in P4.

Oh yeah, there's a question: Does FF13 have any guards against 1-hit deaths? It'd be frustrating if you'd have to rely on luck to survive certain battles just because you haven't ground enough.

Realization!

Hmmm.

@Scott: you're the reason things get stale, or "beaten like a dead horse"....when NOTHING CHANGES. also, 9 was shit, and Dragon Ball wants its story back. No one knows who wants the final boss back though, because he had fuck all to do with the rest of the game.

@nathan

stupid question

but for those who have the game is it possable to change the language on it because i thought they hadnt done the english voice acting yet if not i just wanna no before i order my copy for christmas it doesnt bother me if i have to read subtittles

...but, you know, 1000 chars.

@Scot: It's really, amazingly linear. Every area is basically a single narrow path. It's fight, walk, fight, walk, exit, switch to the other (separated) group of characters. I assume things will open up later in the game like they generally do, but so far, there's not a smell of anything you could call exploration.

@Andy: It could be a pain, but you could probably do it with some trial and error. The only crucial thing would be setting up your Paradigms, and since the names are different colors, it wouldn't be too hard to keep track of which was which. As for the story, you wouldn't really be missing anything. Melodrama is right - we're talking tween-aimed music video melodrama here.

not spamming, I promise

@Jacob: The Crystarium is pretty dull. It's basically the sphere grid from X, but with no real branching, so you basically just visit it occasionally to dump your points and boost your stats. Each role has its own path, but aside from what abilities you pick up on the way, they're practically identical. They're also capped until certain points. I usually unlock everything available well before the section ends with no extra grinding whatsoever. The weapon/accessory leveling is a bit deeper, though.

I'm almost 20 hours in

@B: You can see them in advance, and combat starts when you touch one enemy of a group. If they see you, they'll lunge at you, and there's a half-assed stealth system: you get preemptive attacks by touching one from behind unawares, but it's most often impossible or not worth bothering. Sometimes you can avoid a battle by just rushing by, but you can also use an item called "sneak smoke," which does just what it sounds like, to avoid them altogether or get an easy sneak attack

Not impressed.. and I hated 10.2

This series hasnt been good since 9. FF10 was okay until the end. Talk about beating a dead horse? Well this horse has been beaten, rode hard, beaten again... to death. Buried, dugg up beaten again and raised as a zombie only to be beaten horribly again. Put the bat down Squeenix and backup from the zombie horse...

Please just let it die.

At least there is still some hope for a FF7 remake... Which is fine as long as its just a remake and they change NOTHING.

Hard to play if you only speak English?

Just wondering, as I did have the game on order (cancelled it awhile back). I am curious as to how playable FFXIII is to an English-only gamer. I obviously realize the story aspects will be lost, for sure, but as far as just mindlessly slogging through it start to finish, how easy is it to understand?

Don't expect much...

I wonder if it would be worth it, I hear some in Japan call this one bad since it's far too linear of a game, unavoidable battles inlcuded. The battle system might give it replay value if the story becomes one big unskipable affair... (Like FF10 was).

Flashy and Fast-Paced...

And I can't wait to get my hands on it. They've taken the fast combat and on-the-fly job switching from X-2 and stripped out everything else? I really don't see how that is being perceived as a bad thing. Come on people, you didn't hate X-2's systems you just hated the wrapper. I feel like they've taken all of the strong components from X,X-2, and XII and mixed them into a game that looks like a blast to play.

I've seen some video of the Crystallium system in action and I hope it turns out as deep as it appears to be. Chris Kohler said it felt like "busy work", but that's how some people felt about the sphere grid, which I love, so I'll have to wait and see how the RPG systems connoisseur, Mr. Parish, takes to it.

X-2??

I wasnt impressed with FFX2... probably the game i was least interested in as far as the core FF games are concerned, tho, im not so sure i can even call it a core game.. i liked the characters from FFX, but most of the game felt different.. Im really hoping FFXIII doesnt remind me of FFX2, or ill put it with the rest of my games and itll barely be played...

No full party control?

Really? Maybe I'm old school, I dunno. I much prefer choosing what I'm doing with all characters. I could only get about 3 or 4 hours into FF XII before I just got insanely bored of the game (woo, yay, the game plays itself!).

Who knows, maybe this title will actually be good, but I'll definately rent or borrow it first.

One thing I really miss about Squaresoft was when every single one of their games was gauranteed awesome. Ever since the Final Fantasy series in particular made the jump to PlayStation, the only titles I found decent were IX and X. X2 did have an awesome battle system though, but holy hell did I ever feel silly playing that game as a result of the story and characters.

One nod that you do have to give Squaresoft is that they actually experiment, for better or for worse.

Question...

The screens posted in this article feature no kanji that I can see, as well as boasting english subtitles in the cinematics. How import-friendly is this? If the majority of the text is in english as well as subbed cut scenes, I'll be hitting Play Asia faster than you can say "Active Time Battle"...

come on square!!

Are you freakin' kidding me?! I was hoping there'd be at least an option to control all party members ala FFXII (especially since it was even mentioned in an article here on 1up) but none at all other than paradigm shifts? Thats just silly. I don't want an action RPG. There are far too many of those already. Can't anyone make a proper turn based combat system anymore?! And not Lost Odyssey turn based, I mean each character gets a turn. I know the trend in RPGs is toward faster gameplay and less control over characters but my two favorite RPGs of the past years, Valkyria Chornicles (which not only lets you control all your characters but even lets you aim their guns) and Persona 4 (which finally allowed you control over all characters in battle) knew how to make a game good.

son of a ajgasfgl;jasdskld;j

but as soon as there was even a MENTION of X-2, i died a little inside.

and on top of that, no full control of all 3 of my characters. SEMI-CONTROL isn't FULL CONTROL. If I wanted to play a fucking tales game, I'd go pick up one of those pieces of shit.

Then again, I thought 12 would suck major ass too when I heard about the combat system. And then I liked it. I'll still buy the damn game of course, but goddamn....what makes Square think that people don't want CONTROL of all the characters. It's just freaking ridiculous.

Blah.

I might go to church for the next 3 months and pray that this game isn't what I currently expect it will be. I can't wait another 5 years for a POSSIBLY good FF game again; enough is enough lawl.

Look at this mother flipping game!!!!!

Hype... not so much

This was a complete waste of bandwith... as someone stated earlier, they showed this exact same footage ages ago and it really did not display anything that made me feel as if I wanted to purchase this game.

Someone stated they really have no made a good FF since IX, I thought IX and X were complete crap, enjoyed IIX and XII, and was hoping that this one would be awesome. I'll continue to 'hop', but just may wait until there is the unenviable price drop before purchasing.

idk

they haven't really made a good final fantasy since ff9. every spin off, 10, 10-2, 12, all were either really shitty (x-2) or kinda good (xii). Maybe this will actually be an epic game worth being group with the ps1 ffs. Square never fails to impress in the graphics department, although I feel like I'm watching Star Wars, but all the characters have anime hair and the black guy isn't Samuel L. Jackson.

Last thing, it better be out in 2010. Not pull a Blizzard and push a game back 2 years.

@Noneya

Cautious optimism!

Totally turned around on this game lately from hate to cautious optimism. It seems as though they're at least trying to make a game that is representative of the past quality of the series -- finally. Not sure about the "smooching" though... :-/

wow, people are stupid

wake me up when people quit bitching when something is different and also bitching when nothing changes.

seriously, please, we know that you are the final fantasy elite and you played them all (before VII) but if you dont like something then dont play it. you know comic book guy from the simpsons, hes a parody of you.

someone wake me up...

Cant wait

Now Square just needs to let us know when they plan on releasing world-wide. You would figure that they would have all dates rolled into one seeing as we Americans make up a large chunk of their profits.

OMG yes!

Cannot wait for this game, the battle system really looks like its shaping up to be something amazing. Although Lightnings YOUNGER Sister + Snow? Maybe a bit weird, but we'll have to see how things play out....!

I can't believe I get excited every time S-E gives even a morsel of info about this game, sad, I know, but wow. This game is going to be smashing.

Maybe it's me

Maybe i'm out growing this game. I've played every FF except 11. Part 8 and 12 were the only games I didn't complete due to them being the most boring. I haven't raved over a FF game since 6 ( yes the snes one). Maybe I'll never get as excited as I once did

Best Game of 2010

thanks for the good coverage mr. parish!

a summon that u can ride like a motorcycle... this game is getting cooler and cooler everytime i hear something about it! this game is going to be 2010 'game of the year' (or atleast rpg of the year, hands down), can't beileve anyone has doubt.

@Andi

It has been announced that there will be a level system and the 1up article about it is actually the first article linked in the list on this page. The link being titled "What's Changing In The Retail Version Of FFXIII" were apparently some user on 2channel posted a list of all the things revealed about the final game that has changed from the demo via Japanese gaming media. ie. Famitsu

It just appears they have yet to edit this article to reflect about what the final game is.

80's style music in this game,uh great?

Holy cow! Time warp. Yamaha DX7 or is it a Korg M1, both equally bad, and both used to score this new game. Why the hell wouldn't they score the soundtrack with REAL instruments?...instead of giving it to the guy from "A Flock of Seagulls"? That music just kills anything redeemable about this game.

the hate

is stagnancy. know the old men people make fun of for rrefusing to get cell phones? the ones who keep saying "back in my day..."?

the haters are them. no mp bar, no exp, no leveling up is meaningless. it's what world/situations the game places you in that matter. if you got too bogged up in the "high-numbers-metagame", shit man, i don't know what to say than give it a rent, if you're not buying it. give it more than 30 minutes of premeditated shirk. if you think you've got it all figured out, try playing like a reviewer (a fair amount of time to build a case in either direction). thinking not even backwards, let alone forwards, gets us nowhere, and comfort zones are dangerous to the mind.

Fuck this game and square

What the fuck? No mp, level ups, or xp? What the fucks the point in even calling it final fantasy? It sounds like another action game to me. Shits not even going to be an rpg. Its bullshit, it prolly all has to do with this casual gamer bullshit thats going on. I can't see how this game could be any fun for someone whose been a fan of previous FFs. Shit makes me mad. I gotta fucking play JRPGs now to get my rpg fix. Squares going in the wrong direction for sure. Definitely not going to play this shit.

AWESOME!

I just played the demo at my friends house and it is awesome! gotta checkit out it's almost flawless dosn't have much bugs so far. So if development keeps going smoothly, the North American release date might be pushed fowerd a little. Or it could be here in time for Christmas , that's if they are almost done. Mabe the 2010 release date was proven wrong after all. Just keep those hopes up. The sooner it get's released in Japan, the sooner it get's release in North America.

Nope!

First, Lightning isn't as buff as the hype was making her out to be. She looks like a scrawny kid and we are supposed to belive she's a warrior. Second, her sidekick is a black guy with a canary living in his afro. And these clowns expect me to take this game seriously! No, I'm not getting this one. FF has really lost any relevance to gamers today.

reboot?

stop trying to troll FF12 was the tenth best selling ps2 game in america and the 4th best selling worldwide. to say that ff13 will do bad is just not correct especially since it's going to be multi-platform. you might enjoy playing 10 hour long gow that gets rehashed every year till the point it becomes shovel ware but some people still like a game with depth.

Reboot...

Hey Square?.... how about a complete reboot of this series? Ya know, make them playable by 2009 standards... I can say with absolute confidence that these games in the FF universe will do terrible numbers. It's not just the androgyny or cheesy dialog or music that sounds like the lost "Flock of Seagulls" album...it's the fact that jrpg's sell terribly except for Japan. Keep them there, save money and if people in the States want to play them charge them a ridiculous premium for being ridiculous.

I was shocked when I heard the same music from the same Casio keyboard in the trailer... have you no shame?

But Persona 3....

wasn't active time in the least during battles. It was completely "stop-everything" turn-based, so the decision to have A.I. controlled players was just weird....but i'd have to say they did it to reflect how your interpersonal relationships with the other characters were going. Still pretty sucky for absolute turn-based. For a bit more of a read & react system like this, and to keep things popping, A.I.-controlled teammates are a good choice here.

We've still yet to see how the A.I. will hold up in the finished product though.

What the hell?

As someone who played both Persona 3 and the highly improved Persona 4, I can ultimately say that party members completely controlled by a.i is like digging your own grave for making combat not fun. In Persona 3, all the party members except the main character were controlled by the computer, so sometimes they would make the dumbest mistakes, leading to frequent game overs. The developers were smart enough to listen to the players, so they made the option of making the characters controlled by the player. Biggest improvement if there ever was one.

Now I'm not sure what the developers for FF13 was sniffing the moment they decided to make all the side characters be controlled by the a.i, but if they're smart they'll include the option of making them controlled by the player.

Long time fan

I'm a long time fan, been playing FF games since I was 13. I've had my ups and downs about how they continually change the system, but that's what SE does. Surprisingly, I really liked FFXII - It was a refreshing change of pace - but I'm happy to see them change things up again with XIII.

If XIII is turn based, like it used to be, more the better. With everything released, not everyone will enjoy the changes, but that is my personality. I'll give it a try and then decide if i like it or not. I think too many people judge a book by its cover. Wait till it comes out, rent it and try the new system. Then, and only then, can you truly decide if you like or hate the new system.

@grant

I completely agree with you, I applaude SquareEnix for attempting to be innovative...if all the complainers on this site want to keep playing the same thing over and over; they can go play dragon quest. This game will be amazing.

@ Jeff

Final Fantasy is great, I agree. They just lost me with all this sci-fi stuff. The last 4 games Sucked (10 to 12.

I would rather play my GBA version of FF6. And I beat FF9 again last week. Those are the ones I like the most. FF8 was the black sheep of the PS1 era, but now that everyone that used to say it was shitty are Gonna play this new one even though it's the same shit different pile. Sci-fi, not Fantasy.

no lvl up

will you people give it a chance!!!

The level looks wonderful. If you dont appreciate it then you really dont know what FF games are about. Stop with the "oh no, the gameplay is different" crap. It still looks like it has the FF feel that people love about the series, but with improvements.

What I also dont like from you gamers is that you are calling it "too bland. dissapointing, or the story looks stupid" The game looks great. I wanna see you make 13 games, maybe you would appreciate it more.

Wow, the graphics are insane

I can't wait to see the detail and design of the enemies and usually crazy worlds that square creates on each FF, in this game and with this kind of graphics it seems the final boss, wich usually is a mix of modern art with paganic gods will look pretty crazy.

Final Fantasy 13

will be so epic that you will need a jackhammer just to open the box. I've seen only the first demo video and I'm ready to buy this game off back. All the girls are hot, the battle system is amazing and the story is preety cool too for what i know. Final Fantasy is always doing they're best and as long as they make epic games, i'll be there to buy them.

@hamlet

Meh

I loved the old Final Fantasy systems better personally (Crisis Core was an abortion of a battle system). Its fine if they want to go more of a real time actiony type game, it just means I am no longer the audience they are going for. If any other companies want to make more content with the old school game play but better graphics, I am all over it.

Go Play Dragon Quest

Go play Dragon Quest if you want the old fashioned turn-based jRPG. Final Fantasy XII pushed the genre forward in so many ways. Let SQUENIX continue to be creative with their design when it comes to Final Fantasy.

not happy

not at all happy with Square-Enix's turn for faster-paced, combat-oriented gaming in the FF universe(s)... they are doing this to try and turn more of FF games and pushing away those who were with the series from the beginning.... i bought Crisis Core hoping for a good game, but ive barely played it.. while it might be good for those more recent FF gamers, its just losing it's appeal to gamers who want more traditional RPGs.. and with no XP, no MP, its losing its RPG touches altogether... While i used to get any FF games without much thought, this one will be difficult to jump right on when it comes out.. and the very long time to get it out to American gamers has not helped in that matter.. I am beginning to think I will have to start looking elsewhere for my RPG fix on the PS3, as there are very few games that truly qualify on the system... a disappointment when there were many, many RPGs in the early days of PS1 and PS2..

He's misinformed

There is indeed a leveling and exp system... don't worry. 1UP has obviously started hiring casuals to write their gaming articles. This has already been confirmed in Famitsu just last week. They did not mention the MP system though so there may be some validity to that... but I doubt it. The actions you can que likely have some type of action points to prevent you from spamming magic. The article also stated that the demo was also starting out with more magic attacks than would be available at that point in the retail game.

can't wait for this game...

wow, it looks amazing. the gameplay is right up my alley too. the story looks to be something that has the potential to be great. i'm very excited to buy this. i'll be buying it on ps3, i'm wondering how they will do the port to xbox 360. another thing, is i cant wait for advent children to be released over here since i want to try out that demo. this shot up to my most anticipated game for my ps3. hoping they come out with a limited edition version of the game when it comes out.

No leveling...

I have to say that I was more than a little dissapointed when I read that. Level grinding is one of my favorite things to do in RPG's. And to all you haters, Final Fantasy XII was easily the BEST Final Fantasy.

Interesting.

Interesting as a lover of FFXII (yes the best in the series yet without a shadow of doubt) I am a bit unsure about how good this will be. The graphics and enviroment certainly looks appealing but the combat still has me question a couple of things and if it might indeed be a step back. I'll guess I'll have to wait and try it out for myself to truly see.

Meh, I'll wait for full release

FFXII was THE worst FF game of the series (yes I enjoyed FFX-2 more, IT HAD A GOOD BATTLE SYSTEM!). it was a decent RPG but since it was a final fantasy, FFXII was poor, VERY poor. So I have little hype for this game, the graphics look nice, but that means little to me. I'll wait until the game comes out proper in North America.

system

there will be a character progression system in the game, it's just not implemented for the demo.

Nomura didn't have all that much influence on this game, like FFX/X-2 he mostly only did the character designs (unlike FF7/8/Crisis Core where he had major input on the story and game design, or Versus where he's the director).

FF is a shadow of its former self

"The battle theme is so good you just have to hear it for yourself." Is that some kind of joke? That music is terrible. If that is the final track they're using, then they've officially lost their minds.

Watching the demo is like watching some third rate anime. Is that really what they're reducing the series to? This game stinks of Nomura's influence.

If there is no character progression system or resource management, it's not an RPG. The sad fact is, the more they dumb it down for the retards, the more it will sell.

@hitnrun

See, you're talking like an RPGer. Final Fantasy fans, on the ther hand, aren't concerned with keeping their brains occupied, or things like depth, or strategy. Most of them just want an anime that they can occasionally interact with, and bishounen to fap to.

And they think they aren't basement nerds like those "hardcore" rpg people. Hilarious

Ugh

This looks like a trailer for a spin-off of Too Human. Either that or some Killzone vs. Halo machinima.

I am intrigued by the gameplay tidbits (not from the video, obviously), but I'm not sure if such a streamlined combat system could hold up for an entire 30-50 hour campaign. There's nothing wrong with getting rid of Exp and MP per se, but "artificial" or "geeky" gameplay depth is still gameplay depth and without it, you need something to keep your brain occupied.

Random Battles

There may not be random battles in the most technical sense of the term, but there are still the same game-interrupting transitions into battles that make random battles so annoying. Instead of building on the much needed progress FF12 brought to the franchise they decided to take a step back.

looks great

I just finished watching all of the gameplay videos and I am finally excited for this game again. I seriously thought 13 would have been released by now and after waiting and waiting for so long, without even a trailer with gameplay, I began to lose interest. Now I'm pumped again. I was hoping to be able to control more than one character at a time but hell I still enjoyed 12's battle system and for that matter the new persona games. The idea of not having mp seems great to me. I personally loved 8's magic system so I'm sure I'll like 13's. Hopefully not having mp will encourage players to use magic more. Now the only thing I really want to know is how the leveling system of the game will work. I wasn't crazy about the sphere grid and I really hated the licesnse system, so I hope to god it's different for 13. Also, it seems that there are a lot of people here who loved 10 but not 12. Well I'm pretty sure that the majority of people who made 10 are working on this game.

Sounds very promising!

It has already been confirmed that there is no MP by one of the designers, but it's very hard to believe that there are no levels. There is going to have to be something like a sphere grid or some kind of talent board (hopefully if this is the case, it will be less of a shot in the dark than the one in XII). Besides that, lets hope they get the framerate fixed, and it'll be what looks like an f'in amazing game.

Everything about it looks awesome!

skeptical

Its hard for me to imagine there are no level upping or MP. This was just a demo. I wouldn't expect to be the final verdict when a lot of balancing are necessary and they might want people to jump in and try everything. I will wait and see. I don't know what to think if it if its out. I sure as hell don't see how it could be a good thing.

It better not suck.

Final Fantasy 13 is the last remaining hope i have to persuade my feelings i have about current rpgs. I personally was a big fan of the gambit system in 12 and found it to be the last decent jrpg in the states. I like having to find the secret ultimate weapon or esper or whatever badassedness lies hidden deep from the main plot even if it ends up being a friggin spear. As long as I can brag to my other nerd buddies that i got something they didnt or vice versa, and the battle system is fun and makes me want to progress my party then i will consider it a win. Please squareenix, keep my interest alive. I have been playing final fantasy since the 8 bit nes days and would love to continue into old age.

FFXIII will Rock!

I don't get why some people keep putting down FFXII. X maybe but I thought FFXII was of best of the new Final Fantasys. It combined the Epic story and atmoshpere of the 2D classics with some welcome new features like the real-time battle system. That was one of the coolest additions to the FF serise since FMVs.

@Sami

FFXII was one of my favourites. I like X the lease, VIII and IV and IX and VI (in that order) a whole bunch, VII a lot, and the rest a lot.

Just because you think something doesn't make it true. Personally, I think the series has stayed pretty constant. Excuse me if I don't get all incredulous and yell at people who still think it's a fantastic series.

What do you mean better?

Better like XII? The last console FFs we had were FFX-2, FFXI and FFXII... not even counting Dirge of Cerberus. The FF series has been getting worse and worse, and they can't even put together a decent trailer for XIII, which is supposed to come out next year? The series is in huge trouble.

WHAT???????????????

Are you crazy? Square can make as many as they want. Each one keeps
getting better and better. Though this will either be really good or
so bad it won't even be classified by fans as a game in the series.

Make or Break!

This better be worth buying as one of the best Christmas presents for this year. I hope there's a collector's set of this game. Well, after this, I suppose this should be the last FF in the series, we've had enough already.

I still don't know what most FF games look like

I've never owner a Final Fantasy game, partly because I haven't read a review which tells me what they're actually LIKE. The write-ups seems to focus almost exclusively on the cutscenes. I'm sure they're great and all, but a lousy $30 DVD player can play cutscenes. WHAT ABOUT THE ACTUAL GAME?

not as good as it used to be

Final Fantasy has really fell off the map as a quality rpg experience. Square, just remake VII and give up on the series. Try making a true sequel to the original Xenogears, hell just remake xenogears. Better yet, come up with something original. The Enix side of the camp has done a fine job with the latest DQ 8, lets see more of that type of game dev.

Cant wait !! I <3 me some sci-fi

Thank u Square enix for getting rid of the horrible forumula in FFXII.. that was a piece of monkey turd!..Horrible battle system! HORRIBLE!.. although if they make XIII with a similar battle system to whats being used in Crysis core, it would make for some "action" based fighting.. I love the Sci Fi setting too.. reminds me of Midgar =D

This game is going to be utter trash.

Nothing about this game even remotely interests me. The Art direction is bland, the music doesn't fit, no gameplay is shown, characters are getting way out of hand ("Mr. 33cm"? WTFH?!)and why the hell do you need a billion games for the "Full experience"? Why not just put it all in the one game???
Let's just face it, Final Fantasy has hit a brick wall. It's been in rapid decline ever since Final Fantasy X. The Square half of Square-Enix as a whole has, really. Meanwhile the Enix side of development rocks. Hopefully this serise ends here. I think it has past the point of no return.
As far as I'm concerned, Final Fantasy ended with IX. Screw FFXIII.

My only worry..

..is they are moving to far from the "Fantasy" formula that attracted me to the series in the first place. I mean, don't we have enough sci fi games out today? I remember the good old days of FF X. Now that was a game dammit.Oh well, we'll have to see.....

Hope ts better then 12

Man 12 was boring, it had some interesting aspect, but they were not compelling enough, and the gameplay while evolved from traditional RPG's was even more boring because not only did it not look good(Spells & summons) but you really didnt do anything. FFX was the last good Final Fantasy, and I hope they return to form. I have beaten every Final fantasy up to FFX including the gameboy ones and ffV, however the plot it FFX-2 and FFXII where so lame I just could beat them out of bordem, and the simple fact that they where not fun.

cool

I hope...

that is has a better story than XII. I didn't get 'into' any of the characters at all and could care less what had happened next. The gameplay was great, but for me the story was an all-time low. So here is to hoping on a great immersing story! Can't wait!

Darkest Hour

"but by the fact that the little RPG house started to care only to make blockbusters"
Ok, first, I hate when people attempt to state a fact that is clearly an opinion or a general consensus. I highly doubt the people creating these stories and games have only regard for how big the game will be but disregard any bit of genuine merit the may have to making an honest attempt at a good game.
Secondly, assuming your opinion is true what does only caring to make blockbusters have to do with the product dieing? If it has nothing to do with tastes as you have mentioned, many people X was one of the better in the series. So I'm interested in knowing how FFX was released without merit?

Drakest Hour

Bahamut

From Shiva turning into a motorcycle and being cybernetic in appearance, I'm starving for a screen of Bahamut.
Also, I'm getting pretty f*cking sick and tired of purist fanboys whining about the changes to the franchise. Embrace it instead. If it's a rehash of things you played before, then what's the point of getting excited over it?

i agree Silent_Scream

when i first heard the news about shiva being able to turn into a motorcyle i though cool i wonder how square enix is going to do this. besides im sure that shiva still comes out and fights like normal in the battles...but when ever you want to travel far fast just pull out your harley shivason and your on your way.

the summons...

It hasnt really been done before I'm sure about it. I REALLY look forward to what they have in store for them. But turning into a motorcycle??? It seems very ambitious, but knowing ff I am sure they wont dissapoint.

I have a feeling...

Girl or Boy?

I have only one question: is this a boy or girl?
For a boy, he has a too good curve of chest and leg.
For a girl, to be honest her face is too masculine and what? a huge sword?!
Just like a girl like Tifa or Luna or Rinoa, or any guys in the early FF series -- Vaan in FF12 has already been 'feminised', already. :S

This LOOKS AWESOME

I can't wait intil this game hits stores. The new idea of summons becoming different objects is pretty cool. I've been waiting for something new in the Final Fantsy series which will be different from the same structure of Final Fantasy.

Futuristic No Thanks

SE needs to quit with the high tech environments. I long for the day a new FF comes out with a traditional fantasy setting but non cartoony.
Just sic of the futuristic settings and their characters are getting weaker and weaker with each passing game. FF12 was impressive from a scope standpoint but, as a game, the characters and story weren't worth the hype.

Better be good.

FFXII's story was complete crap, so I'm hoping this one's story will be better.
I love that Final Fantasy is cycling back to HardTech environment. XII was a decent mix, and X was 80% SoftTech. I'm going to love the graphics and environment I can tell, but I still find the combat system wanting.
I also hope that the summon system works out better than XII. Summoning an Esper was fun except that most of the Espers were horribly envisioned. The Aeon system of X wasn't too shabby, especially because they lasted more than 10 seconds in a fight.
I'm also not a fan of the completely variable weapons system. I like the weapons being a part of the character.

... IGN release date update

Well, IGN updated their US release dates for PS3 yesterday, FFXIII went from TBA 2007 to TBA 2008... is this going to be another FF7 CC for PSP? cause i'm at the point i dont believe that FF7 CC for PSP will "ever" be released. . .

There's no way it would work on the 360!

In case you people (XBOX fanboys) are not aware, FFXIII uses the White Engine, which was custom made for the FFXIII series. Squenix recently announced that they are going to use the Unreal Engine for the other PS3 games that they create. What was their reason? TO SAVE MONEY! It's a cheap engine, and yet this is the engine that runs "dominates" the XBOX360 development spectrum. Square views the Unreal Engine as a money saver! Ha! Your entire system, at its highest settings, is run off of a "dollar store" graphics engine! Square would never bring FFXIII to the XBOX360 simply because the horrible engine and specs of the 360 would deface the art of this FF installment. The only relationship that Square and XBOX are going to have within the coming years are going to be when Square releases knock-off titles onto the 360 (Crystal Chronicles anyone?). Enjoy the archaic graphics of GOW and Halo, I'll be enjoying the pristine images projected to me from my PS3.
HOOYAH!!

PS3 exclusive

yeah I agree with zero.

This should go to the 360 because more people own the 360 right now and it would do really well due to the fact that it's on an affordable consol, the graphics look exactly the same if not better, and alot of people like the FF series.

This looks Sweet

This game looks F&%$ing sweet, The story sounds interesting and the battle system has really caught my eye. I have four of the previous games and have enjoyed every one of them so I expect these guys to make this one that much better.

Final Fantasy is overhyped.

Dont get me wrong i love the final fantasy series and this is looking to be another good game but the series is way overrated and overhyped. I mean come on lets take a look at this. Final Fantasy 12 just came out and before some people have even bought it they are already getting all hyped up about Final Fantasy 13! I'd say take a break, wait for some more info and a demo, then decide if its worth your hype or not. All we really have on it so far is just "pretty pictures" and squaresofts word. When you think about it that doesnt take you too far.

FF is starting to look like a Digital Novel

I am interested to see how they handle moving around a map and interacting with the story. Each FF seems to become less 'interactive' and more focused on looking pretty.
The clip we saw of FFXIII seemed more like a movie promo than a game.
I want to see how they pull this off.

uh... what? no

That's not a dude, dumb ass. Lightning (pictured) is female, and they've BEEN saying she's female. There's a trailer that came out for FFXIII that hasn't been publicly released yet that features a male character (who's picture, however, IS available) at the end of the trailer.
As for her likeness to Cloud, the director (I think) told Tetsuya Nomura to design a character that looks essentially like a female Cloud, and that pretty much is a female Cloud at face value, with the unfeeling/grim/cool face, fluffy/pointy hair, sleekness, and cool sword.

Wow, just wow.

Im really excited about this game! Not only is it just going to be beautiful, but the music should be less shakey. Sadly, No, Nobuo isn't making the soundtrack, but the man he colaborated with For Final Fantasy X is writing it. At any rate, this is going to be awesome ^_^.

You can't deny that it looks great!

Fortunately it's not the only option

You could also turn off gambits, activate Wait battle mode and pick each command from a menu. At any rate automatic is more efficient for fighting the regular enemies that have never required much strategy in FF, and for leveling.

Dude, it was rank.

Automatic battles lick, and badly at that. If I hit X, I want to swing my sword, dammit. They should have just made it an action RPG with menus a la Kingdom Hearts. At least you can avoid attacks like that. It's what the RPG genre is boiling down to anyway.

Pssh, FXII is brilliant

Finally the series took a step forward. Random battles ,limited turn based systems, linear worlds and overwrought adolescant stories are relics of the past and have been holding the Japanese RPG genre back. Let's hope XIII can expand upon, in some way, the advancements made by XII. And Nomura is still a hack.

But one thing is for certain;

In the end the success of the game will be how it plays. And for Final Fantasy, unfortunatley, it's really been sucking as of late. Make no mistake, I have all of square/square enix's games. But I've also noticed that the majority of them blow, and it's a sudden thing.. I just wish I didn't have the faith I have in them, 'cause they keep letting me down game after game. It's the a drug, junkies will buy low grade crack to feed the addiction... At least their remakes are good though.

Serraxor

BD is a total rip-off. It is comissioned by Umbrella...I mean Microsoft, to force their way into a market that doesn't want them. Its only sold 135,000 in japan i believe; a flop for what it cost to develop. FFXIII will be amazing no doubt, but im really looking foreward to Shirokishi.

Only problem with Blue Dragon is..

It was developed by Artoon, who have a spotty record at best. Every game they have made reeks of shoddy half-assed worksmanship. From the reviews I have read, this game is no exception. Yes it has characters designed by Akira Toriyama, it's directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu scored it but it's mechanics aren't all that great, this is what I've been reading.

By The Way...

Blue Dragon is done by the original members of Square. No surprise it;s simaler, but overall, I expect it to out perform Final Fantasy. After all, the creator of the FF serise is heading up Blue Dragon. Nobuo Uematsu is doing the music. Akira Toriyama doing art... Sounds like Chrono Trigger, no? Wicked.

Hmm....

No, I think they'll all hold thier own, dude. But Final Fantasy XIII is still really wonky-sounding... Maybe it's because Final Fantasy XII left such a bad taste in my mouth. They should maybe stop calling alot of thier new RPGs Final Fantasy, because they stray way too far from what made earlier games so special. As far as I'm concerned, Final Fantasy IX was the last true Final Fantasy.

Well Then

Beautiful

This game looks gorgeous, and knowing the legacy of Final Fantasy games, should present an engaging story and a lengthy experience. The changes to the pacing and battles sound exciting. Expect this game to rule 2008.

more excited about blue dragon

i cant aford a ps3 or xbox360 yet so i am waiting to determine which one to buy, by comparing exclusive games in each genre, well the "dream team's" blue dragon has me more excited than ff xiii, which is saying alot for me

Can't wait

An "Extreme" New Look for Final Fantasy?

I can honestly say that these new game mechanics look amazing; I've always been a fan of technical yet intense and fast-paced, hone-your-reaction-time games. I LOVE them. They make me feel like I'm not just wasting time playing games.
(Ok, so that doesn't matter anyway. <3 my games)
But as my fine friend below me has stated, WTF? Shiva the Radical Motorcycle? KTHXNO.
This is where I think Square-Enix are taking the "extreme" too far. I'd much rather have even your generic Final Fantasy theme than what I've read so far.
Regardless, I'll be purchasing this game if only for the gameplay and brilliant visuals. I only hope the mechanics will actually deliver in the end.

:S wtf?

Am i crazy or what??? I've loved every Final Fantasy since 1992, and i got 'em all :s... but this new entry in the franchise sounds rather... (SORRY) stupid :s... the summons are... fine as they are :S now they are a transformers-final fantasy strange couple... im not happy with this :S!

Looks more promising than FF12 ever did

Let's face it, FF12 was an MMORPG without the online component. It was centered around using macros that many MMOs use to streamline gameplay.
FF13 holds much more promise in that it is the true evolution of the ATB system. Let's just hope that the action elements don't require split second reflexes and timing. RPGs are meant to challenge the mind, not your reflexes.

Keefman

The thing is that most of these rpgs have multiple party members, which would make it hard to control everyone without some menue system. Sure, Final Fantasy 12 had a somewhat more action based system, but it sure wasn't close to that of say Zelda.
I do agree somewhat though. In fact, I can't wait for the day when we can have a massively multiplayer online RPG with controls like a Zelda game. That struck me when (Zelda TP spoiler, look away folks!) I was fighting Gannon at the end of TP, I thought "hey, this could very well be a pretty strategic battle against another person".

Riding Shiva

eh...

"we want to continue that overflowing feeling of tension that RPGs up to now haven't had." yeah they have... zelda.. nuff said. honestly i hope it's better than the one that came out last for ps2... that was pure crap

Oh yeah...

This game right here is my one reason to spend $600's. I know when people buy new computers just to play a great game with the best of everything it has to offer...this is my reason for buying a console.

KILLER APP

Call me an idiot, but...

I don't understand why RPGs like this always have to have a "battle system". Why not just go around and beat the shit out of stuff without having to go through boring menus? Wait, I think that's what an action RPG is. No wonder I play those more. Still, it would be nice if an RPG with the depth of Final Fantasy handled combat like Ninja Gaiden or something.

Cautiously optimistic...

Hopefully this will turn out more like FFX and less like FFX-2, which I couldn't really get into. I've found something to like in pretty much every Final Fantasy I've played, so I'll probably like this one too. I just hope it isn't delayed numerous times like XII and lives up to the hype. This game, and Metal Gear Solid 4, will make or break the PS3.

My head is about to explode...

Um..

...now i'm one of the biggest FF fans their is,but Shiva turning into a moto?Well.....um....lets look at it like this,one bit of news I am not to sure about does not change my mind about me looking forward to it.I liked the changes in XII,and although it is not the same old FF,to me thats good.Sometimes to much of the same thing is not good,and change is needed.I still look forward to XIII,and I still look forward to getting a PS3 to play it on here soon.(The PS3 sooner than the game.)I think keeping the series different is good,and they are consistent in the fact that they do make significant changes in ALL the games,it's just people are always bashing it because it is not the same as the NES/SNES versions.Look,stay open minded.If you don't like the game because it is different,well,thats sad.If you just don't like it because of a valid reason though,cool and good for you.

FF is dead?

Try telling that to all the people who bought XII and aren't afraid of a little change. If FF was the same thing over and over again, it wouldn't be around because it would have gone stale a long time ago.

PS3 will reign supreme

The $600.00 game!!!!!!

This game alone would get me to pick up a PS3. Forget MGS4...I loved FF12, and if they can pull off something innovative like they did with ff12 for ff13, then I am sure that when the PS3 price drops, this game will be mine!!!!

Hmm... Sounds cool.

Fall of Tradition

I think all of these proposed ideas are excellent and will make for an incredible game, I mean, Bahamut a Transformer? I just hope the FF series doesn't stray too far from its roots with this futuristic stuff.

I lost...

interest in the FF series after FF8, but this game looks promising. It probably won't come out for like a million years though. Sony needs this to be an exclusive. In other news...is anybody AT ALL excited about bust-a-move bash!? I seem to be the only person on the planet who likes that series. Won't anyone play with me? Anyway I hope the battles are intense as they say they will be.

FFXIII + 360=PS3 Death

It could happen, what with the extremely High cost of development for the PS3 and 360 we're already seeing less and less exclusives. Most developers just can't afford to be exclusive anymore. Hell even series that were already exclusives were ported to other platforms (RE4 anyone).

Game looks fantastic

Every Final Fantasy game has intruiged me in a posiotive way, they would have to change the battle system slightly with every game, but I think what XIII needs is the return of the turn based, I frequently don't like XII's as much as the others, but we'll just have to see and wait.

Lucky Number 13 (Now STFU or GTFO!!)

Ok,aside from the bickering over the better character artist (Tesuya and Amano are both superior if you ask me),FFXIII will probably prove to be yet another starblazing sucess like its brethen before it,possibly not only surpassing gameplay,graphics,and design,but also giving everyone a fresh taste of a new world different from the medival and industrial settings of previous FF games.Not only that,it may aslo be the a proper kickstart to showing off what the PS3 is capable of.I will agree that there does need to more animation to the kickass gunner's face,but you have to admit she does look pretty bitchin (am I the only one who thinks she bares a very complied resemblence to the main heroines from the last couple of FF games?).

Tetsuya rules

I love Tetsuya Nomura's character designs infact most people didn't even know what Final Fantasy was until FFVII and FF's most beloved and popular characters were made by Nomura. Amano makes women look like men and men look gay. I hate his art its sickening. I'd choose hot female characters like Tifa over the manish women designs of Amano any day. And of course any sane straight person would rather control an awesome character like Cloud instead of a black lipsticked male lead. Nuff said.

Cut SQUARE ENIX some slack >_<!

Listen to yourselves. You guys sound like lil immature kiddies. Who whine until they get what they want. You can never be happy for once.
Which leaves me to believe that when you don't have something to do. You always tend to find stuff to vent your rants on. Well, who's delivering us the game to game stores? You or Square Enix?
You guys should know your place and and should know how hard this buisness is.

Old School?

The old FF games from the NES/SNES era were just plain boring, they've always been slow.
The main reason I liked FFX was Voice Acting. The storyline had it's hooks in me.
I can't wait for FFXII for PS2 and this game as well. Which seems to have more than a few surprises up it's sleeve.

Nomura's character designs..

They leave people cold and have turned off many long time FF players (think NES days)that see Amano as the standard for Final Fantasy desiign. Alot of us are just not feelin' the spiky hair or Nomura's brand of fashion. To each his own though.

yay!

More bitching about how Square-Enix has lost it's way! How fun! *coughsarcasmcough* Why do people SUDDENLY think that Square is whoring the Final Fantasy name? there are THIRTEEN main installments not including spinoffs! THIR-TEEN! if people had that opinion then I think they're abit late on that one. I mean the ATB,Medieval, Turn-based formula is great and all...but umm, variety is good too. Besides there have been changes to every single Battle system in Final Fantasy, so how does one define "playing like a Final Fantasy?" I guess it's really up to the person...so yeah I do remember when Final Fantasy played like a Final Fantasy...because it still does to me. Oh and Lost Oddessy does look pretty awesome.

Lost Odyssey actually seems more ff than ffxiii

Seriously when sakaguchi left Square something changed.. it was slight at first, but its becoming more and more apparent.
These guys are no longer going for the proper universe that sakaguchi envisioned the one that made them the big success they are. With each new iteration its as if they are creating a new extremely modern anime and thats cool and all, but they are leaving the roots bigtime.
Hell as far as I'm concerned lost odyssey will become a big franchise not unlike the final fantasy of old. The lost odyssey name lends itself to possible sequels just like final fantasy does. I expect there to be a lost odyssey 2 which no longer follows the tails of kaim the immortal warrior. I expect it to be something else entirely and its going to take off bigtime. How seriously lucky is Microsoft to JUST HAPPEN to be the publisher of such a huge game? Mark my words Lost Odyssey will turn into a franchise..

when did final fantasy become final scifi?

squar-enix needs to either go back to there medieval roots with their ff series, or retire the franchise and call these sci fi games some thing else. although this looks like a graet game it doesn't look final fantasy.

I'm starting to lose my fandom.

Ever since FFX came out (which is my least favorite) followed by FFXI the MMORPG (which made us wait longer) i've pretty much lost my previous hardcore interest in the series. Since I haven't played some of the older titles yet, I still have some REAL Final Fantasy games to look forward to. Despite the fact that all Final Fantasy games were different they still had specific elements that made them "Final Fantasy" games like the standard menu battle system, summoning creatures, spells, and world maps. Now there is really no reason to dub these games as being in the same series as Final Fantasy, its a bunch of BS if you ask me because I want a nice traditional RPG with all of Final Fantasy's original gameplay elements that us FF fans have come to enjoy and love.

Ugh.

I'm getting sick of this. That they have that idiot Nomura making one of them just makes it worse. SE is losing its touch and I'm just happy that the ones making these titles haven't touched FFXII.
~Have a Nice Day

Lucky Number 13

As of now, Final Fantasy XIII is actually number 2 on my list of PS3 games. All my friends tell me everyday that they are definately getting this game. I wonder if there's going to be any type of online feature?

Surprising

I'm surprised that Squeenix is already making the 13th installment. They keep delaying FFXII so we can expect to wait forever for this game but lets face it, for Final Fantasy, it's always worth it! Anyways, the pics and video are awesome so I can't wait.

Actually....

The hero's a guy.
OK I'm kidding. That looks damned cool, though. I'm just gonna have to wait for price reduction, which won't be too long once Sony takes that finger out of their colletive bung and realizes very few will pay $600 when the Wii is around the corner and getting Rave reveiws from their hands on demos.
Time will tell.

I for one.....

Will welcome new gameplay to the FF series. I'm getting a little tired of menus within menus. I like the character design but I wish they could have shown some in game footage instead of the cinematics. But thats how Sony plays it. Keeps us wanting for more. Sneaky Bastards.

Okay then...

I wonder if any square character designer has considered maybe a T-shirt instead of the "I got dressed stoned out of my mind and in the dark" look (Tidus is the best example of this).
Yeah it's pretty, but the animation is hardly smooth. They had an opportunity to make realistic people appear to be preforming impossible feats, and instead it looks like wireworks.
Also, if they want to change it so much, why don't they just say "Final Fantasy is over, here's a new game. Have fun with that." Well, I guess I'm the only one who'd like that...

Interested

As a non FF fanboy I would be more interested in giving this game a whirl than a standard RPG. Using a menu to fight a battle is not my idea of fun, where as the semi-newer style of RPG's like Kingdom Hearts 2 is a lot more fun for having to actually fight your own battles. If the graphics in the real game are anywhere close to the trailer then I would really be interested in picking this game up.

I say Evolve, and let the chips fall where they may

C'mon people, we've been bitching about dead battle systems for years. Maybe it's because we've grown out of the "select menu option, watch action, repeat" battles that RPG's seem to be synonymous with today. Watching that trailer makes me think that it really is time for a drastic change. In other words...it looks freakin awesome.

2 1/2 years....

That's how long I'll be waiting to get my hands on this and other gorgeous-looking PS3 games. Because of the $599 price for the 'premium' version, I've elected to wait until the price comes down about $200 which I optimistically predict will be the holiday season of 2008. Maybe it'll be sooner but I wouldn't bet on it.

This will be good

Almost all previous Final Fantasy games have been based in some kind of a old, yet mystical world filled with magic and wonders. I think it rocks that Squeenix is taking this to a new level by emerging the players in a futuristic world. I'm sure the new gameplay will fit the world just fine and come one people, this is Square Enix we are talking about. They, of all people, know how to make an awesome game. Only problem is, we probably won't be playing this game for another 3 and a half years...

About time!!!!

I have played many of the FF games and other RPG's and I am glad to hear that FFXIII is going on a new direction. Ever since FFX things have been sort of stuck. I mean look at FFVII to FFVIII there were changes that keep the games interesting in nine more innovations. Then came X and this was a watershed game but X-2 was an interesting thing I like the all girl cast but I wish that they could have done more and didn't. From what I've seen of XIII man I cant wait and finally some realism girls look like girls and hope the boys look like boys too. Now Square how about giving some of the female characters not only rabbit ears but rabbit tails???? Oh! and Square when the hell are we going to get a sequel to Vagrant Story one of the best RPG's ever made.

Nice

I Have loved the FInal Fantasy unvierse but ever since I've grown up and played differen't role playing games I am so sick and tired of the old school gameplay of Final Fantasy. After 10 versions it's time to mix it up a bit.

Awesome.

The visuals are just breathtaking. I, for one, am glad it's going the action RPG route, if the preview is correct. Frankly, I'm tired of the tired waiting your turn battle system of past games, and FFXII didn't work for me, either. Hopefully it's as fast paced as the trailer. The thing that makes RPGs great is the stories, not the menus.
I can't wait for this game.

Why?

I am not sure what the folks at Squenix are trying to do, I am not a fan of action-rpg's. If I want an action game, I will buy one. I think the genres should be seperate. I don't think the melding of the two is going to work any betterthis time than it did with FFX-2. I mean, how many people list that game anywhere near the top of their lists of favorite Final Fantasy games? The screens are amazing, but the action is not what I am looking for in an RPG. I hope squenix knows what it is doing, and they don't alienate too many of their loyal fans.

The screens look promising, but...

only because they show beautiful graphics and the power of the PS3. The character design is annoying in my opinion. All those androgynous characters in Japanese games and movies...I really grew tired of them. One doesn't feel sympathy with them, because they look like clones, each one with another oh so fancy haircut.

Neat!

Hmm, yup I love the "New Final Fantasy Smell."
I can't wait for tomarrow, hopefully G4 will cover this (unless they are 360 onry) and show us some video.
I also wanna get a good view of those logos for each title.
Ya know I have NO idea what to expect out of these Next-Gen titles, I just gotta remember to breath.

They're following Matsuno's steps...

And that's hella good.
- Vagrant Story.
- Final Fantasy XII
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
They all exist in the Ivalice universe, although not all of them intertwine. The strategy makes up for one captivating experience.
PS3, you've already won my heart.

Loving XIII

These pictures are absolutely sweet. I love the fact that Motomu Toriyama (probably one of the greatest video game designers ever) is apart of it as well. Can't wait to play it (when the PS3 goes down in price three years from now that is...)

The graphics

It looks amazing because the entire thing is pre-rendered. Personally I hate this new art direction. For a second I wasn't even sure if the lead was male or female, simply because they got Nomura to do the character design again. FF is dead to me.

I love you

Action Packed

This game looks like it will be full of action. The graphics are amazing. This game might be like an interactive Advent Children in terms of graphics and action sequences. Although it is still early, I'm glad to see a game company taking a risk. I wonder what the other platforms are for the other two games mentioned?

They finally did it...

...after all the girly boys as heroes they finally took the plunge and made a girl main. At least, it seems that way. Also the screenies look interesting but are those then gameplay footage? Or cutscenes? Either way, I hope they really do have a female lead and not a joint project like Tidus/Yuna or ensembles like they did with Terra/Celes.
I wouldn't mind an action-RPG style for FF especially if its something like Prince of Persia influenced action where the controls are definitely responsive and smooth.

It definately..

Looks more exciting than FFXII. I pray that it has few ultra-androgynous male characters. Kinda like FFXII's male hero.
Looks great, really. Final Fantasy needs to branch off and become something new and exciting, not the same old same old. Keep a good story and great characters, and they've got it. It doesn't matter if it's Action-RPG or straight forward RPG.
Personally.. I'd REALLY like an Action-RPG FF...

"reinvention"

quite honestly, i don't want reinvention.. if this FFXIII is a drastic change from what made most FF games so great to play, i think ill pass.. i lost interest in FFX-2 because of its departure from what i came to love based on its broken storyline and fractured missions.. and XII remains to be seen just how that will truly turn out, for me anyway..if FFXIII is all about action, then they've truly lost me.. ill just wait and hope for a next-gen remake of FFVII as being the next FF game i play.. sure, it looks good, but i dont think looks will sell the game alone.. i am truly disheartened if the series goes the wrong way.. i am a traditionalist when it comes to RPGs.. i want them like they used to be.. not full of action and shooting.. if i wanted that, ill play FEAR or Far Cry..
peAce
jt

Too Early

FFXII isn't even out yet and they expect players to get excited about XIII already? I'm sorry, but alot of this hype's gonna hinge on how well XII works out in the US. If American players can't handle the changes there, what'll they do when they see FFXIII?

Eye Candy

Better than i imagined

I been waiting to play a Final Fantasy game like this since I saw the FF7 commercial (which was all fmv). Now, since the PS3 holds graphics that look better than FF7 FMV, I don't have to wonder anymore. This game looks so fucking unreal that its ashame I don't have a job so I can save money to get the damn shit.

Learn from Kingdom Hearts II

That is how an action RPG should play, and hopefully Square will put a similar battle system in this game. I'm alittle bit upset that FFXIII will not be developed for the 360, however I may get a PS3 this generation and completly dump Nintendo's Wii.

awsome

Real-Time Screen Shots?

While this game will probably be very good looking, I find Square's claim that these are real time shots to be very suspect. Look at the camera angles; if this were truly the game in motion, it would hardly be playable.

Sounds great!

Next-gen?

Despite the high-but-not-surprising level of eye candy, is this really such a departure for Final Fantasy? With every game we hear "the battle system will be radically different" but it's really not. And even the worlds look familiar. We've accepted Final Fantasy as a name that sells and that there are really no features other than "save the world" that these games have in common. However, as the article mentions, the worlds look like FFX, the heroine is a blending other protagonists, and this opening scene sounds like the opening of FFVII.
Square-Enix can keep telling us that they're moving forward but how about you give me an RPG that's set in an intimate world where experience is gained without fighting monsters. Then you can have a cookie for how "progressive" you are.